Attorney General ‘Disappointed’ Feds Likely to Miss Hanford Deadlines

Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Wednesday the feds are in "serious" risk of not meeting the legally-mandated deadlines for cleanup of the Hanford site.

According to Ferguson's office:

the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) informed the Washington State Attorney General’s Office that the federal government is at substantial risk of failing to meet three more milestones ordered by the court in the 2010 Hanford Cleanup Consent Decree."

Because of those potential delays, Ferguson says they would set back all the other requirements laid out for construction and implementation of the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), better known as the VIT plant, at Hanford.

Ferguson is the latest in a number of state officials over the years who have been frustrated with the progress of the federal government in cleaning up the nation's largest repository of toxic and radioactive waste. He included the following statement in a press release Wednesday:

Today’s news is yet another setback in the federal government’s ability to meet its court-ordered obligations to Washington State as laid out in the consent decree. Our office will continue to work diligently to provide our state clients with every legal option available to protect the health and safety of Washington residents.”

The deadlines in question were to have been met by the year 2022.